Sean Long
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Image:39889837 long203.jpg | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sean Long | |
| Date of birth | September 24, 1976 | |
| Place of birth | Wigan, England | |
| Height | 5ft 9in 85kg |
|
| Nickname | Longy | |
| Position | Scrum Half | |
| Professional clubs* | ||
| 1997 1997-2007 |
Widnes Vikings St Helens |
?(?) 244(141) |
| National team | ||
| 1997-2006 ?(?) |
Great Britain England |
?(?) ?(?) |
|
* Professional club appearances and (tries) |
||
Sean Long (born September 24, 1976 in Wigan) is a rugby league player who currently plays for St Helens as scrum-half.
Long started his career at his hometown club Wigan Warriors before swiftly moving to Widnes Vikings. His performances for the Vikings caught the eye of several of Super League's top clubs, and he was eventually signed by St Helens when needing a replacement for the departing Bobbie Goulding. Long twice set St Helens club record for most points in a Super League season, kicking 284 points in 1999 (beating Goulding's old record of 257 from 1996) and following up with 352 in 2000[1]
Long has played national rugby league both for England and Great Britain.
Long has won all major honours in the game at club level and is the only player in the history of the Challenge Cup to win three Lance Todd Trophies for man-of-the-match performances after winning the trophy in the 2001, 2004 and 2006 finals.
In 2004, Long was involved in the 2004 rugby league betting scandal which also involved former teammate Martin Gleeson. Long and Gleeson were both fined £7,500 for the scandal and banned from the game for three and four months respectively for breaking rugby league betting rules.
He remains at St Helens RFC and in 2005 passed the two thousand point mark against Huddersfield Giants at Knowsley Road.
In 2006, Long was part of the St Helens rugby team that is regarded as one of the best rugby football teams of all time. During 2006, St Helens won both the Challenge Cup and Engage Rugby Super League and Long was regarded as an integral part of the team.
In 2006, Long was selected for Great Britain in the tri nations. He has stated that it is a "big possibility" that he will play football in the NRL in the future if anyone will have him.[1]. Cronulla Sharks and Kangaroos coach Ricky Stuart expressed some interest in seeing him in the Shire in 2008 but the deal has fallen through.
In the fourth match of the tri-nations, and the first match between Great Britain and Australia, Long played a starring role in allowing Great Britain their first victory in Sydney in 18 years. The Lions won the game 23-12 with Long setting up two tries and kicking three goals and a field goal.
On November 13th 2006, Long returned home from the Tri-Nations tour, with 'personal reasons' being cited as the reason by Great Britain coach Brian Noble. The BBC reporter Dave Woods suggested in an article that Long had been drunk after the Lion's loss to the Kiwis on the plane trip back to Australia, but as the flight is only three hours that is unlikely. Noble also denied rumours that betting or drunkenness were behind Long's departure, saying, "that's so far from the truth... it's personal reasons," saying further that it was the decision of the Sean Long to return home. Long's wife is heavily pregnant. Also the Daily Telegraph newspaper revealed from what it said were "sources close to management" that there had been a philosophic rift that emerged between Long and Noble. Long preferred an attacking style of football whereas Noble preferred a more conservative process driven style of football. Tension about team selections had also occurred with dispute about who should be Great Britain's hooker.
